“Other disciples [apostles] ordained” (v. 14) is the only event recorded in the thirty years covered in the first three verses above. However, that one event is very important. Many churches, and therefore many people throughout the Christian world, fail to recognize that the members of the original quorum of the Twelve Apostles were replaced upon their death. The New Testament names other apostles who were not members of the original Jerusalem quorum, but it does not state they were ordained replacements. The only exception is Matthias who replaced Judas Iscariot, and it says: “he was numbered with the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26). Other apostles chosen later would include, but is not be limited to, “James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:20); “Paul, called to be an apostle” (Romans 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:1), and Barnabas (1 Corinthians 9:5–6). When Matthias was chosen, the book of Acts quotes “the book of Psalms” (109:8) as a prophecy of Judas being replaced (Acts 1:20). The same prophecy was quoted, or paraphrased, by the Lord in a revelation in 1838 regarding one of the latter-day apostles, David W. Patten and other latter-day apostles who may need to be replaced: “others shall be planted in their stead and receive their bishopric” (D&C 114:2). The pattern of the selection of apostles in this dispensation further substantiates the replacement of apostles when death or apostasy occurs. As “special witnesses of the name of Christ” (D&C 107:23), the replacement of apostles also is evidence of the spiritual climate being maintained among the Nephites.
The formula for there being no contention in the land was “because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Nephi 1:15). The other social and spiritual characteristics among the Nephites at this time are summarized in: “and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of the Lord” (v. 16).
The absence of “ites” could be equated with “isms” in our day. There was no socialism, or communism, or no liberalism, or conservatism, or radicalism, or terrorism, or other manner of isms. During his earthly ministry in Jerusalem, Jesus prayed:
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. [John 20:20–23]
The Nephites at this time “were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs of the kingdom of God” (4 Nephi 1:17). This ideal condition was stated in another way in modern revelation: “be one, and if ye are not one ye are not mine” (D&C 38:27). The people of Zion in Enoch’s day also attained this ideal unity:
17 The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.
18 And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. [Moses 7:17–18]
The goal given repeatedly in this dispensation was: “Keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion” (D&C 6:6; 11:6; 12:6; 14:6). Nephi, son of Lehi, saw in vision the day when the gospel would come forth unto the Gentiles through the Book of Mormon, and said:
35 For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.
36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation.
37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be. [1 Nephi 13:35–37]
The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object” (TPJS, 160). We must follow the pattern set by the Nephite people described above to attain that goal.
The last ten years mentioned above (4 Nephi 1:18) was a continuation of the previous thirty years. In all forty of those years, the Nephites were blessed in all four areas of their life. Although their wisdom or intellectual development was not mentioned directly, it was implied in the areas of the social and the spiritual growth. The physical area of their life will be discussed below.
The first generation from Christ was a hundred-year time period (v. 18). The Book of Mormon uses a generation as a hundred years (see v. 22 below and Helaman 13:9–10). There are other time periods used as a generation in other places. From father to son is a common usage of a generation. Another designation is a period of a major movement. The Lord told Joseph Smith: “This generation shall have my word [The Book of Mormon] through you” (D&C 5:10). In this context, a generation is a synonym for dispensation. The Apostle Paul spoke of “the dispensation of the fullness of time [when] he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). This time period would include from the restoration of the gospel in 1830 until the millennium when all things will be restored (see D&C 27:13; 112:30–31; 121:31; 124:41; 128:18). Elias delivered the keys of “the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. Thus there are various definitions of dispensation used in the scriptures.